Main menu

Hot on EW.com

King RalphJohn Goodman's first starring vehicle — an extended piece of sitcom nonsense about a slob Las Vegas lounge singer who becomes king of England —...King RalphComedyPGJohn Goodman's first starring vehicle — an extended piece of sitcom nonsense about a slob Las Vegas lounge singer who becomes king of England —...1991-08-02MCA/Universal Home Video

John Goodman’s first starring vehicle — an extended piece of sitcom nonsense about a slob Las Vegas lounge singer who becomes king of England — is one of those movies that’s so inoffensive that eventually it begins to annoy you. You suspect it’s a ploy to distract you from realizing that it’s also not very funny. Goodman himself is quite amusing (part Oliver Hardy, part Jackie Gleason). And the entire cast is vastly better than the script demands; King Ralph really should have been a TV movie starring Tony Danza or Ed O’Neill. There are a few mild grins and fewer genuine laughs to be had here. But in any case, the whole thing is so formulaic and predictable you’ll probably doze off before you notice that its plot is a rehash of The Prisoner of Zenda. C-